St Joseph’s chase redemption, first flag in 17 years in A-grade grand final; Newtown & Chilwell without Ruby Pekin-Schlicht for decider
St Joseph’s broke a 16-year drought to return to an A—grade final last season before falling agonisingly short. Twelve months on, they get another chance to seal the deal.
St Joseph’s co-captain Tori Honner believes the experience of last year’s losing grand final has the Joeys better prepared to bring home their first A-grade flag in 17 years.
Meeting reigning premiers Newtown & Chilwell in Friday’s A-grade grand final, it comes 12 months on from the Joeys’ heartbreaking 34-38 defeat to the Eagles in their first decider since 2008.
Reflecting on last year’s result, Honner said she and her teammates were all set for a second crack at it.
“We made it last year and that was such a big achievement, that was our first grand final in 16 years,” the star defender said.
“Now coming into this year, making it again, it’s not as new and daunting, we’ve been here, done it and we can sort of focus on the netball part of it a bit more this time.
“It’s given us motivation, we’ve learnt a lot from the loss and just having that experience under our belt.
“But we’ve probably taken that focus away from the loss and channelled it into our team and how we play and our game-plan and how we go about the season and game ahead.”
The Joeys will have a full-strength squad at their disposal, after bolstering their depth in the off-season with the additions of recruits Kiahna Fallon and Ella Closter, while Larni Howard was promoted from B-grade.
Both Fallon and Closter enjoyed standout first seasons with St Joseph’s, the midcourter and goal shooter earning Team of the Year selection alongside Honner – who was named captain – with all three finishing within the top seven for the league’s best and fairest vote count.
Meanwhile, Honner credited their coaches Riley Richardson and Tracy Howard for leading the club back into another grand final.
“They’re incredible and they both offer really different things,” Honner said.
“We had Riley last year and he really built that foundation and Tracy’s come on board this year and offers a new perspective – it’s been awesome having both of them.”
Finishing the season in second place behind the Eagles, the Joeys have a 2-1 edge over their rivals this year, with a two-goal loss coming in ‘round 0’ followed by an 11-goal win in round 7.
The Joeys later prevailed in their qualifying final match-up earlier this month, defeating the Eagles by five goals.
“We know how they play, we’ve played them a lot, they’re a really experienced side,” Honner said.
“But we need to focus on what we can do, our strengths and execute our game plan – if we can do that, I think we can absolutely do it (win).”
Honner hopes it will be one of four flags the Joeys can bring back to Herne Hill Reserve on Friday, their D-grade and 17 & U division 2 netball teams also through a grand final alongside its senior footballers.
“Last year it was just us in … hopefully we can bring some wins home,” Honner said.
‘Huge loss’: Visa troubles force Eagles defender out of decider
Newtown & Chilwell wing attack Vanessa Augustini says its upsetting to be without Ruby Pekin-Schlicht for Friday’s grand final, but believes the premiership defender’s absence will spur the group on in chasing the club’s ninth A-grade flag since 2013.
Pekin-Schlicht – who splits her year between Australia and the UK while completing a PhD in regenerative agriculture – hasn’t played since round 16, and will miss Friday’s grand final against St Joseph’s.
“She’s not with us due to study and visa issues at the moment,” Augustini said.
“Huge loss to us.
“Not only has she been part of the club for years, her mum is a huge supporter of the club, Kate’s there each week.”
“We really hoped to have her.”
Last year, Pekin-Schlicht played in her first A-grade flag with the Eagles, before departing for Bristol that same night.
Augustini said the team had held out hope of getting Pekin-Schlicht, whose versatility sees her cover all three defensive positions, back for this year’s grand final.
“Absolutely it’s a huge motivator for us, exactly what’s going on in the chat right now, ‘we’ll do it for you Rubes’,” she said.
“But it’s definitely something you want her to be a part of – it’s bittersweet if you have that win, or whatever the outcome is, you’d rather she be here with us.”
It’s proved a challenging finals series personnel wise for the minor premiers, who were without goal shooter Mikaela Vaughan for their losing qualifying final to the Joeys and Mia van Wyk for its preliminary final victory over Geelong West, though both will line up in the grand final.
The powerhouse Eagles have continued to defy the odds to make a 11th straight appearance in a grand final, with a ninth flag in that same period on offer if they can get over the line.
“It’s really exciting … hopefully we continue to build on that, but the win is exactly what we’re chasing now,” Augustini said of their unrivalled record.
Standing in their way is a determined St Joseph’s, who the Eagles denied a drought-breaking flag in last year’s grand final, with Augustini confident the game will come down to “consistency and an ability to contest for the full 60 minutes”.
“It’s a tough one because they’re great across the board and they’ve been building for the last couple years, so strategising is going to be really key in this game,” Augustini said.
“Seeing who we match up well with, what we can do to be different.
“(Goal keeper) Charity (Nasalio) has been a huge inclusion for us, she’s just won a championship with the VNL.
“You match differently against certain teams, but I think Julia Woolley is good every year, Dani Mather, just an amazing leader throughout the middle.
“I think you’ll see those people … and having Mikaela back as well has been outstanding for us.”
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Originally published as St Joseph’s chase redemption, first flag in 17 years in A-grade grand final; Newtown & Chilwell without Ruby Pekin-Schlicht for decider
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